Infant monitors are increasingly used by parents to monitor an infant while the parent goes to a different location away from the infant, such as a different room while the infant is sleeping. The typical infant monitor includes a transmitter or infant unit and a receiver or parent unit wherein the infant unit transmits sounds made by the infant to the parent unit. The parent unit then reproduces the sounds made remotely by the infant and transmitted to the parent unit from the infant unit.
In known prior art infant monitoring units, the infant unit is designed to be placed flat on its back on a table (or some other planar surface) or in some instances, may also be mounted to a wall. Furthermore, the parent unit of known prior art infant monitoring units is generally designed to be placed on a table (or some other planar surface). Known prior art parent units often include a volume adjustment knob to control the level (dB) of the sound emanating from the speaker in the parent unit.
It is also known to provide an LED (light-emitting diode) visual display such that the audible portion of the parent unit may be shut off and a series of LEDs will light up on the front face of the parent unit. The number of LEDs displayed will correspond to the intensity or loudness (dB level) of the sounds being detected by the infant unit, and being transmitted by the infant unit to the parent unit. For example, as the infant's cries become increasingly louder, more and more LEDs are illuminated to visually indicate to the parent that the sounds coming from the infant are increasing in intensity.
In the use of prior art infant monitoring systems, there has been a need for a parent unit having an LED display which may be more clearly viewed. There also exists a need for a parent unit having an LED display in which the display is more visually pleasing and may be viewed from various angles by the parent. Finally, there exists a need for an infant monitor parent unit having an LED (visual) test or LED (visual) try-me switch. This switch (which may be exposed and accessible outside of the packaging at the point of purchase) would allow the parent to both test the visual output of the parent unit (prior to purchase) and test the functioning of the LEDs (after purchase and removal from the packaging) without actually receiving signals from the infant unit.